Sweatshop Insider: Creature of Habit

Though it may not be obvious, or a big part of my past life, I used to be pretty overweight. As in over 215 lbs and pre-diabetic. It actually took me a few years before I tried to do anything about it though, and it wasn’t something that I could maintain without support.

Like many people, I thought I didn’t have enough time or it would take far too many big changes in my lifestyle. I was working full time and the idea of taking extra hours to go to the gym or cook my food (or, you know, sleep properly) was just something I figured wouldn’t work with my schedule.

Of course, then I got annoyed with getting nowhere, I got a personal trainer, and even just the few sessions a week and simple changes in my habits started working – fast. The biggest change? Tracking my meals and eating simple, quick to prep meals that just gave me the fuel I need. It actually made my schedule simpler, and not having to think about what to eat that day made my life easier. It actually freed up my time (especially around dinner) because I spent so much less time trying to decide what to eat.

Just knowing my set of go-to meals, having only those in my house, and making sure they were all fast and easy to prepare took a lot of stress out of my life. Even eating out was simpler – I was always the person having to special-order food because of my lactose intolerance. Limiting carbs or other goal-unfriendly foods was just another box to check on my mental special-order list. In fact, it was so easy that the people who worked in restaurants I frequented practically knew my order before I made it, which made it even easier for my indecisive brain because of how ridiculously convenient it was to just say “yeah, the usual”.